20 Years of Eurobattle.net: A Retrospective on the PvPGN Server and Its Open Source Ecosystem

In 2003, a group of Warcraft III enthusiasts built a free community server using the open-source PvPGN project. Over twenty years and a million games later, Eurobattle.net remains one of the longest-running unofficial Warcraft III servers in existence. This talk traces its evolution from early bnetd and PvPGN roots through the rise of GHost++ and GProxy projects, which fundamentally transformed Warcraft III map hosting, to our own project forks and extensions that keep the ecosystem alive today. Attendees will learn about the architecture behind Eurobattle.net, challenges maintaining decades-old C++ stack, learn about the community aspects, and see a short live demo.